Rotary blade safety razor



Feb. 19, 1952 E. C. GARRARD ETAL ROTARY BLADE SAFETY RAZOR Original Filed Sept. 25, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET l 4 RMB@ Feb 19, 1952 E. c. GARRARD r-:TAL l 2,586,022

ROTARY BLADE -SAFETY RAZOR Original Filed Sept. 23, 194'? 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 A farn ey Patented Feb. 19, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY BLADE SAFETY lRAZOR Original application September 23, 1947, Serial No. 775,690. Divided and this application April 13, 1949, Serial No. 87,266. In Great Britain September 26, 19`46 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a safety razor of the type in which a bladed rotary member is arranged to be revolved Within a member which may be of cylindrical or other shape and is formed longitudinally with a slot, one side of which is sharpened to constitute a `fixed cutting edge and the opposite side of which is of comb-like configuration to constitute a safety guard.

The present invention has for its object to enable the user of a safety razor readily to set the two cutters in relation to one another to suit his immediate requirements, e. g. coarse medium or ne, for it has been realized that not only do the skins of different individu-als call for different settings, but so also does the skin of any one individual user according to climatic and other conditions, and that it is the variation of the width of the axial gap which is the primary means by which variation of the closeness of shave may be obtained.

To this end, therefore, and in accordance With the present invention, means readily operable by the user, are provided, on a rotary safety razor of the type hereinbefore set forth, for expanding and/or contracting the inner peripheral dimension of the head.

The desired dimensional Iadjustnfient may be effected, for instance, by rotation in the head of a cam.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of one form of head for a safety razor of the type hereinbefore set forth;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2 2, Figure l Figs. 3, 3A and 3B correspond with Fig. 1 but illustrate a modification respectively in three different operative conditions;

Fig. 4 corresponds with Fig. 2 but illustrates the modification of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective View showing the whole head of the safety razor of Figs. 3, 3A, 3B and 4.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 a is a hollow cylindrical razor head formed longitudinally with a slot b, one side of which is sharpened to constitute a fixed cutting edge cand the opposite side of which is of comb-like configuration to constitute a safety guard d. The head c is cut at the centre of its length to permit a tongue not shown to be bent out therefrom to enable the head a to be secured to a handle (not shown).

The expansion and contraction of the cylindrical head .a is controlled at each end by an oval cam 33 rotatable in seatings 34, 34 in an enlarged part of the slot b. The cam 33 has, outside the cylinder a, a cross` cut head 35 by which it may be turned. Inside the cylinder a the carn- 33 has a shank 3B which is passed through a suitably shaped washer 3l and riveted over as at 38. It will be understood that the Width of the slot b is controlled by the angular position of the cam 33 about its axis of rotation.

The construction shown in Figures 3 and 4 is similar to that just described with reference to Figures l and 2 but instead of an oval cam a circular body 39 is formed with a radial pip" or projection dii which, according to the angular position of the body 39 about its axis of rotation, fits successively into the slot b and two notches 4|, 42 the radial depth of which decreases. Thus, in the position shown in Figure 3, the projection 4E! extends wholly into the slot b and the slot is at its narrowest. When the body 39 is turned to engage the projection 40 in the notch 5l (as shown in Fig. 3A) the cylindrical head a is 6X- panded slightly and the Width of the slot b is increased because the radial dimension of the notch 4I is less than that of the projection 46; While the cylinder a will be expanded further and :j the width of the slot b will be increased further when the body 33 is turned to engage the projection 4U in the still shallower notch 42 (as shown in Fig. 3B)

It is to be understood that it is desirable to provide means for indicating the position which the adjusting member occupies so as to show the state of the cylindrical head a. That is to say, ethere may be engraved or otherwise produced on the head a graduation marks with which a mark on the adjusting member 35 may be aligned; for

is also formed with an aperture through which passes a rotatable shaft 44 formed at one end with a worm engaging worm teeth on a rotatable cutter t5 formed with journals it carried by bearings 4l in end plates 48 secured to the ends of the head a. The worm teeth consist of the central portions of cutter blades le on the cutter 45 as well as additional teeth 5@ between the blades 49. The end plates are secured to the head a only at the portion of the inside surface thereof adjacent to the cutting edge c so that the position of the rotary cutter with respect to the edge c is not laltered when the distance of the comb d from the edge c is increased or diminished. The tongues 43 are secured to a casing providing a handle and containing an electric motor for driving the shaft 44, as is well known in the art.

We claim:

1. A head for a safety razor of the kind having a cutter mounted to rotate about an axis, said head comprising, in combination, a tubular casing made of resilient material and adapted to contain said cutter, said casing being split along a longitudinal line so as to present two edges, one of said edges being formed along a major portion of its length with a cutting edge, the second of said edges being formed with a comb opposite said cutting edge, said edges being further formed with opposed cam surfaces arranged laterally of said cutting edge and said comb, a pair of elements, respectively inside and outside said casing and Overlapping said cam surfaces so as to be supported by the portions of said casing around said edges, and a cam interposed between said cam surfaces and between said elements and supported by the latter, said cam being rotatably mounted so as -adjustably to pry apart said cutting edge and said comb, whereby the resilience of said casing tends to cause said edges to approach one another substantially circumferentially with respect to said tubular casing.

2. A head according to claim 1, in which one of the pair of elements consisting of said cam and at least one of said cam surfaces is formed with a series of distributed localities of increasing radial dimensions, and the other said element is formed with a locality of dimensions such as t0 snap into each one of said rst mentioned localities, thereby providing a corresponding series of xed settings for said cutting edge and said comb.

3. A head for a safety razor comprising, in combination, a guard and shear casing formed with an internal space for a rotary cutter and with a slot giving access from the exterior of said casing to said space, said casing being further formed on opposite sides of said slot respectively with a cutting edge and a safety-guard, a cam member mounted to rotate about an axis transverse to said slot and operatively associated with said casing to adjust the peripheral dimension thereof and thereby the width o f said slot, means for turning said cam, and means tending to arrest the movement of said cam at a series of predetermined points.

ERNEST CHARLES GARRARD. KENNETH G. HARROLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 964,752 Cartwright July 19, 1910 1,135,868 Vinyard Apr. 13, 1915 1,185,127 Ollard May 30, 191e` 1,247,828 Halterman Nov. 27, 1917 2,198,266 Gardner Apr. 23, 1940 

